Finished plans, securing permissions and permits

We now have finalized plans, which we will put up here soon, but we are waiting for all the various permissions we need before starting.

First there is the Public Health permision for our septic system, because there is no mains sewage system on the island. We’ll write more about the system we’ve gone for, and other water issues, in later posts, but because of the multiple problems with the site, we had a proper septic engineer design us a system which meets all requirements. There were no apparent problems noted in the inspection, so permission should just be a matter of time.

Second, there is the Construction Permit from the Township, and all the subsidiary information they need, including: the Public Health permit for the septic; engineering-stamped specifications for the foundation slab and walls; and the heat loss and energy efficiency information. But the latter are depdendent on the final design for the the Energy Recovery Ventilation system, which we are still awaiting. So we can’t get the Construction Permit yet.

Finally, we need to get the agreement of the bank to our mortgage application, which depends on another inspection and all the usual opaque processes that trying to get credit involves.

All of this means that the timetable we had in mind has slipped but we’re still hoping we can break ground by the end of this month (June), and we’re confident that the shell of the house can be finished by Christmas. That’s the most important thing as far as the weather goes and we can carry on working on the inside over winter.